BREAKING: Andy Reid ‘wants to use all’ of the Chiefs’ wide receivers

On Wednesday, Kansas City’s head coach and quarterback discussed neither Hollywood Brown nor DeAndre Hopkins catching a pass against Houston.

A central curiosity coming out of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-14 Divisional Round playoff victory against the Houston Texans was the usage of the team’s wide receiver room.

Rookie Xavier Worthy was the only wideout to record a catch, finishing with five receptions for 45 yards. Veterans Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster combined for only four incomplete targets, with only Brown on the field for more than half of Kansas City’s 49 offensive snaps.

Before Wednesday’s practice, head coach Andy Reid denied any significance to the ultimate snap counts or target share.

“That’s the way it worked out,” Reid explained. “We want to use all of them. They’re all good players. There’s just one ball, so it happened to go the other direction. Not for any reason it didn’t come their way – they’re all part of it.”

The other direction it happened that the ball went was to tight end Travis Kelce — who turned back time with a vintage stat line of seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Andy Reid ‘wants to use all’ of the Chiefs’ wide receivers

Speaking after Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes attributed Kelce’s monster performance to the heavy attention players like Brown and Hopkins saw.

“There was attention paid to [Brown and Hopkins],” the face of the league recalled, “and they made sure to put a shell over the top of those guys. That allowed the middle of the field to be open for Travis. That’s kind of how you have to do in this league.

“Whenever certain matchups are working for you, you go to those. You still want to have that option, thought, and I think we’ll try to be better this week giving them more and more opportunities downfield.”

Mahomes also described a way that Brown made an impact on the game, even without recording a catch. In the second quarter, the two narrowly missed on a deep pass that would have put the Chiefs into the red zone. On the next play, Mahomes found Kelce on the run for a 49-yard gain to the Houston 6-yard line. Three plays later, the Chiefs scored their first touchdown of the afternoon.

“Even in the one where we didn’t complete it – the one down the field – it kind of scared them,” remarked Mahomes. “The next play, Travis hits one over the middle and makes a big play happen. That’s kind of the versatility of the offense – just finding that day what’s working best.”

Hopkins also spoke before Wednesday’s practice. The veteran denied that his limited usage was injury-related, and he was not one of the four Chiefs listed on Wednesday’s initial injury report.

“I feel good,” declared Hopkins.

Brown returned last month after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury. Reid noted the benefit of having almost all of the team’s offensive weapons available over the past few weeks but reiterated that a deeper room results in fewer opportunities for individual numbers.

“The last few weeks have been great,” said the coach. “Everybody’s been up and ready to go. It hasn’t been a problem that way. They’re all getting in and getting a chance to play. As far as the pass game goes, it just depends on where the ball’s headed. We have full trust in all of them. They’re all really good players.”